A 100-Year-Old NYC Diner Still Serves Fresh Coke the Old Fashioned Way
When it comes to a glass of Coca-Cola, one old Manhattan diner still does things the old-school way. In a short video posted online in August 2022, viewers watched a soda being mixed by hand rather than poured from a modern dispenser. The diner uses classic soda fountain equipment, a method that was common nearly a century ago. This practice continues today at a small luncheonette on the Upper East Side of New York City.
A Luncheonette That Refuses To Change
Image via Wikimedia Commons/PhotoSafariCarson
Lexington Candy Shop has served customers on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan for almost a century. The diner dates back to the mid-1920s and is one of the last traditional soda fountain luncheonettes still operating in New York City. While most restaurants moved toward bottled and machine-dispensed soft drinks decades ago, this shop kept its original soda fountain approach.
The internet discovered this old routine after filmmaker Nicolas Heller shared a video on Instagram on August 22, 2022. The short clip quickly gained traction online, reaching more than eight million views and collecting over 275K likes.
The Old Soda Fountain Method
The employee prepares Coca-Cola using the same technique that soda fountains used in the early 20th century. The process begins with pumps of Coca-Cola syrup poured directly into a glass. Then comes carbonated soda water, mixed into the syrup while the drink is stirred by hand. The final touch arrives with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The last step gives the drink the character of a classic Coke float.
During the early days of Coca-Cola in the late 19th century, the beverage was sold mainly as syrup that soda fountains mixed with carbonated water on demand. Pharmacies and lunch counters across the United States served it that way for decades. Bottled soda later took over the market, and the hands-on process slowly left everyday restaurants.
A Surprisingly Small Ritual
Heller’s video showed how unusual that preparation now feels to modern customers. The clip spread widely across Instagram and other platforms, drawing thousands of comments.
One commenter wrote that their mother used to buy Coke syrup as a remedy for stomach aches during childhood, a practice that was once common in pharmacies that operated soda fountains.
Several people also recognized the Lexington Candy Shop itself. A few said they visited the diner years earlier and were happy to see it still running exactly the same way.
Coca-Cola is one of the oldest and most recognizable drinks in the world. The brand dates back to 1886 and grew into the largest beverage manufacturer and distributor on the planet. Over time, the way people drink it changed, and Lexington Candy Shop keeps a small piece of that earlier era alive.